Left Behind
by D-ZombieDragon
Summary: When Ellis is left behind by his team, he believes that some comments made by his teammates weren't jokes. But is that the true story? Was he really left behind on purpose? /Takes place during The Passing, Bill isn't dead. Very angst-y. Hope you like it
1. Chapter 1

**Hey y'all. I know it's been a while since I've updated anything. My other stories will get updated soon, I just thought of adding another one. I apologies if this is a stupid 1st chapter, but the idea wouldn't go away, and I hope the story will get better :)**

**Hope y'all enjoy!**

_**Left Behind**_

_**Chapter 1**_

"Louis, you're a badass with that gun!" Nick yelled up to the four other Survivors. "Are you sure you don't wanna come with us? We can leave Ellis behind."

Ellis heard Nick's comment, but he knew it was a joke.

"Where are you guys headed?" Bill asked as he watched the new Survivors gather the gas needed to fill the generator.

"New Orleans," Coach answered. "Wanna come with us? Hell, we can even leave Ellis behind to make room for y'all."

Ellis was a bit surprised that Coach would mention such a thing, even for a joke. But he knew that the older man didn't mean it, so he went back to work. While they worked, the other team thought about whether to join them or not.

* * *

><p>Soon, the generator was fueled up. But before the new Survivors could get into the car, the other team climbed down (Louis with some help). They have decided that maybe it was best to team up with another group.<p>

Ellis, Nick, Coach and Rochelle were happy that this was the other team's decision. But before they could celebrate, they all heard something.

"Holy shit…" Ellis murmured, looking into the distance.

The others looked to where he was looking, and saw something they all dreaded.

"You have GOT to be kidding me!" Rochelle yelled.

Not one, not two, but THREE Tanks had arrived on the scene!

"Looks like they came to finish off what they started!" Francis yelled. His team had encountered three Tanks only a few days prior.

"Run for the car!" Louis yelled.

The others didn't need to be told twice. Ellis was slowly falling behind, as he was the most injured of them all.

"C'mon, Ellis!" Zoey yelled.

"I'm goin' as fast as I can, man!" Ellis responded, limping as fast as he could. He was almost there, until one of the Tanks caught up and cut off his escape route.

"Shit!" Ellis yelled, trying to get away from the Tank. But the other two were blocking the way back. Desperate, he ran into a different direction.

Bad idea.

He ran right into a dead end. He turned around and saw the three Tanks gaining up on him, slowly starting to corner him.

"Ah! Guys, help me!" he yelled, trying to catch a glimpse of the car and his friends.

What he heard and saw next almost broke his little heart.

He heard the sound of the car's engine roar. He looked up and saw his friends driving away from the scene, leaving him to die.

The Tanks were still coming closer.

Ellis thought that this was it for him, until he noticed something he didn't see before. There was a small alley on the right side of the dead end wall. He pulled out a Molotov cocktail.

"Burn in hell, you sons of bitches!" he yelled, throwing the Molotov and setting all three Tanks on fire. As soon as that was done, he ran into the small alley and hid from the Tanks. The Tanks tried to follow, but they were too big to enter the small alley. Eventually, they all burned to death.

Shaking, Ellis slid down the wall into a sitting position and hugged his legs. He put his head on his knees and burst out crying. For the first time during the zombie apocalypse, he was shaking, frightened and alone. He still couldn't believe that his friends abandoned him like that.

* * *

><p>He stayed in that position for hours, unable to move or stop crying. Finally, he slowly got up and walked out of the alley. He took some more ammo from the pile for his M-16, and took the small lift back up to the higher platform. He decided to go stay in the safe room his team was in before the whole generator fiasco instead of staying on the bridge like the others did. With the bridge down, it would be much harder to stay safe up there.<p>

He closed the door and sat against the wall. He thought about patching himself up, but then he remembered that he didn't have any health kits. He would have to bear with his wounds a bit longer, until he could find another First Aid. He got up from the floor and lay down on the bed.

That night, he cried himself to sleep.

**Please don't hate the other seven Survivors! It's not what you think! You'll find out what happened in the next chapter!**

**I'll try to update this and the others as much as I can, but schools gonna start again soon, so again, I'll try to update!**

**Hope y'all liked this! R&R please :D  
><strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey y'all! Sorry this took a bit longer than expected, but I was typing, then I suddenly had a better idea for this chapter, and wrote that one instead.****Thanks to those who review, faved and/or alerted! Hope you enjoy!**_**  
><strong>_

_**Left Behind  
><strong>__**Chapter 2**_

"How the fuck did this happen?" Nick exclaimed, driving as fast as he could back to the bridge.

"Zoey, why didn't you tell us the kid was still out there?" Francis asked.

"I swear, I thought he was right behind me!" Zoey answered, holding up her hands. "I was in such a hurry; I thought that he was already in the car! The car was so full, it was hard to see if he was in or not!"

The team had driven away from the bridge, thinking that everyone was safe in the car. It wasn't until about an hour later did they realize that something was wrong. That was when they realized that Ellis wasn't in the car with them. Driven by panic, the team had immediately turned the car around and sped back the way they came.

"Alright, y'all, calm down!" Coach yelled over the argument. "We don't have time for this bullshit!"

"Coach is right!" Bill added. "We don't need more panic added to the situation!"

"Listen, Bill, was it?" Nick spoke up. "I think panic was invented for just this sort of situation! We just left Ellis to die! How do you expect us to react?"

This sentence caused Coach and Rochelle to stare at the conman. Never had they heard something from him that told them that he cared.

"Hey, I saw how that boy handled the zombies when you guys were collecting the gas cans," Louis pointed out. "I'm sure he's fine."

"Louis is right," Rochelle piped up. "We mustn't jump to conclusions. We must stay calm."

* * *

><p>Ellis hadn't had much luck in finding a health kit. He didn't even want to think of what would happen if he didn't find one soon. He tried to keep his wounds clean, but it wasn't enough. He had already started to feel weak from the blood loss.<p>

He wanted to stay in the safe house he was in, but he knew that it wasn't such a good idea. If he was going to find a health kit, he would need to leave the safe area to look for one, and the only way to do that was to leave and go from safe house to safe house.

* * *

><p>A pair of yellow eyes watched the young Survivor. The yellow eyes belonged to a Hunter. But this was no ordinary Hunter. This one was different from other Hunters. For example, instead of trying to kill human Survivors, he tried to befriend them. The Hunter had only succeeded once in befriending a human. Besides that one friend, the Hunter was very lonely, for not only did he fail each other time at befriending human Survivors, but other Hunters treated him like an outcast, isolating him from the rest.<p>

As he watched this young human, he thought of trying to befriend this one. As he sniffed the human's scent, he scented many wounds on the young Southerner. The Hunter realized that without help, this kid would eventually die from his injuries, or die from an infection in those injuries. He started to follow the Survivor.

* * *

><p>As Ellis trekked back the way he and his former team came, he stumbled upon the wedding they had passed earlier. They hadn't startled the Bride Witch, so she still sat there, sobbing in front of the altar. Suddenly, he felt a bit suicidal. He felt a strange desire to startle the Witch, knowing that without the help of other Survivors, he would die.<p>

Before he satisfied this strange desire, he first slipped past the Witch and walked over to the stereo nearby. He changed the music to one of his favourite Midnight Riders' songs, 'Save Me Some Sugar.' He heard the Witch growl behind him. He faced the Witch.

"If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna do so while listenin' to the Midnight Riders," he whispered as the Witch's growls turned into a blood-curdling scream.

* * *

><p>Nearby, the Hunter heard the Witch scream. Feeling panicked, he sped towards the sound. When he arrived, he saw the Witch ripping into the young Survivor's body. Screeching, he pounced on the Witch and slashed her until she moved no more.<p>

Panting, he walked over to the Survivor. He took one look and stopped abruptly in his tracks. Even though he was a Hunter, he slightly retched at the sight.

The young Southerner was covered in blood, old and fresh. He had new wounds on his body, plus some old ones had been opened again. But none of that topped the wound on the Survivor's face.

The kid's right eye was _half hanging out._

The Hunter couldn't help but whimper. The Witch had obviously slashed him across the face at some time, causing the kid's eye to come right out of the socket, literally hanging on by a thread.

'I have to take the kid to my friend,' the Hunter thought. 'He should be able to help.'

Slowly, he put the young Survivor on his back. Then he ran towards the place he had last seen his human friend.

* * *

><p>Upon arrival at one of the safe houses, the Hunter immediately scratched on the large, red, metal door. He hoped his friend was still here. His prayers were answered when the older Survivor opened the door.<p>

"Jake?" the man asked.

The Hunter nodded his head, gesturing to the unconscious Survivor on his back.

As soon as the older Survivor saw the boy on Jake's back, he stepped aside to let them in. He then took the young Survivor from Jake's back and placed him on a nearby counter. Jake watched as his friend looked over the younger Survivor.

"R-R-Ray?" Jake asked uncertainly in English. The older Survivor had been trying to teach Jake how to speak English. Jake still struggled, but he managed to learn how to say a few things in English. He could also understand the language; he just had trouble saying the words.

The older Survivor, now known as Ray, faced Jake.

"What happened, Jake?" he asked. "Explain as best you can."

Jake struggled, but managed to hiss out a jumble of words.

"Witch…slash…claw…eye…blood…wounds…too much…too many…thought to…bring to you."

Ray thought for a moment before putting the words together.

"A Witch slashed at the boy and clawed his eye while doing so. Seeing too many wounds and too much blood, you thought to bring him to me."

Jake nodded, pleased that Ray could understand. Ray turned back to the boy behind him.

"Well, I may be able to save the boy's eye, but unfortunately, I won't be able to save his sight," he said grimly.

Jake was confused.

"What…mean?" he asked.

"It means that he will still have an eye, he just won't be able to see out of it," Ray replied. "Do you know his name?"

Jake shook his head.

"Been…following…him," he hissed. "Was on…his own."

Ray nodded in understanding as he carried on fixing up the young Survivor.

"Jake, pass the box of First Aids, will you?" Ray asked.

Jake nodded and searched the safe house for the kits. Ray had also taught Jake to be able to tell what's what. He found the box of kits and brought it over to the counter. Ray nodded in thanks and began stitching up the young Survivor's wounds and eye.

* * *

><p>Eight excruciating hours later, the makeshift surgery was deemed a success. Ray finished up by cleaning and bandaging the boy's wounds.<p>

"Okay, I will have to remove his stitches in a few weeks, but he should be fine," Ray said as he finished.

Jake nodded in agreement. Now, all they could was wait for the young Southerner to regain consciousness. 

**Please note that this is NOT a Ellis/Hunter slash fic.**

**Those who are reading my other story, You Can't Break Me, will know who Ray is.**

**Both Ray and Jake belong to me.**

**Hope y'all enjoyed! R&R please!**

**Until next time**  
><strong>D-ZombieDragon<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey y'all. I finally got 'round to updating this :) Thanks to those who review, faved and/or alerted this story :) A very special thanks to foxgirl224 for the long review with some nice ideas. You actually helped me finish this chapter :)**

**I've put up a voting poll in my profile, if y'all could please check it out. Thanks :)**

_**Left Behind  
><strong>__**Chapter 3**_

Ellis groaned weakly as he started to come round. The first thing he realized was that he was in a safe room, which was a surprise to him. The last thing he could remember was the Bride Witch, then darkness. He lifted his hand to take off his cap (which was no longer on his head) and run his fingers through his hair, but stopped. He waved his hand in front of his right eye, but all he saw out of it was black. That was when he came to a horrible realization:

_He was completely blind in his right eye._

As he started to panic, he heard a voice behind him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, no need for panic, son."

Ellis tried to turn to see who was behind him, but the pain in his body protested. He heard footsteps behind him and saw the person moving in front of him. Ellis studied the man carefully with his left eye. The man started to speak.

"What's your name, son?" he asked.

"Ellis," the young Southerner replied. "Wha' happened?"

"Well…from what Jake told me, you startled a Witch. She slashed you multiple times and clawed your eye at some stage, causing some serious damage," the man replied.

"Jake?" Ellis asked in confusion.

At this, the man put two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly. Immediately, a dark blue blur sped to the man's side. Ellis' eyes widened.

The blur was a Hunter.

"Hunter!" Ellis cried, trying to back away.

The man chuckled.

"You don't need to worry about Jake here. He won't hurt you. In fact, he was the one that saved you."

Ellis stared at the Hunter for a moment, quite shocked. He then looked back at the man.

"If that's Jake, then who are ya, sir?" he asked.

"Everyone calls me Ray," the man replied. "But my full name is Raymond Wilson. I was a doctor from Canada before all this shit. You?"

"I was a mechanic from Savannah, sir."

"Please, call me Ray."

Ellis smiled at Ray, which the latter returned warmly. But Ellis' smile disappeared as soon as it appeared, and he looked down.

"Ray, why am I blind in my right eye?" he asked.

Ray hesitated before answering.

"Well, like I said, the Witch clawed your eye, causing it to become seriously damaged. I managed to save your eye, but your sight was beyond saving. Here, you can take a look yourself."

Ray handed Ellis a slightly cracked and dirty mirror. Ellis looked into it and couldn't help but gasp.

A long, jagged scar was on his face. It started at the top right side of his forehead, traveled diagonally over his right eye, his nose and left tip of his lip. It ended on the left side of his neck. His left eye was unharmed, but when he looked at his right eye, all that looked back was a milky white orb. He stared at his reflection and couldn't help the lone tear that leaked from his good eye.

Jake got up and nudged Ellis sympathetically. Ellis jumped at the sudden contact, but soon calmed down and put his hand on Jake's head. Jake couldn't help but purr.

"Ha! I should've known!" Ray chuckled. "Jake is so much like one of those protective family dogs! He was just like this when we first met!"

Ellis smiled at Ray, then down at Jake. Ray sighed as he watched the two. He would have to ask the kid why he was alone, and just hope that he didn't upset him.

"Uh, Ellis?" he asked. "Why were you alone?"

Immediately, the boy's smile faltered, and he stopped petting Jake. Tears started falling from his good eye. Jake nudged him again, but not for more attention. He was trying to comfort Ellis and encourage him to tell Ray what had happened.

Ellis got the message and looked up at Ray.

"I was abandoned," he whispered.

"Abandoned?" Ray echoed. "How?"

"I was with three other people," Ellis answered, choking back a sob. "We had a car, but we had to stop drivin' when we reached the bridge nearby, 'cause it was raised. There was other Survivors on the bridge who told us tha' we needed to go 'round to lower it. When we got to the other side, we fueled up the generator that would lower the bridge. When we finished, the other four Survivors climbed down from the bridge. They had decided to come with us…"

Ellis trailed off as he broke into a sob. Jake moved closer to him and put his clawed hand on the boy's shoulder. Ellis looked at him and gave a small, sad smile before continuing.

"Before we could drive off, though, three Tanks appeared. I was hurt real bad by tha' time and the Tanks cut me off from the car. I tried to run, but I was soon cornered. I tried calling my friends for help, but when I looked up, all I saw was the car drivin' away, leavin' me to die…"

Ray stared at him as he trailed off again.

"How did you escape, Ellis?" he asked.

Ellis sighed.

"I thought I was goner for sure, man, 'till I saw an alleyway on my left. I threw a Molotov at the Tanks and bolted for the alley. The Tanks tried to follow, but they were too big. They soon died from the fire. I was on my own since then…"

His bottom lip quivered, but he didn't cry again. Ray didn't need to ask the kid why he startled the Witch. He already knew…

Ray was jostled out of his thoughts as Ellis stood up.

"Well, thanks for y'all help, but I've gotta move on," he said.

Ray stared at Ellis in complete horror.

"Ellis, are you completely mental? For all I know, you're gonna go back out there and try to kill yourself again!" he exclaimed.

"What's the point in me livin'?" Ellis shrugged. "No-one wants me in their team, I'm a burden to anyone I meet. Everyone treats me like some kid. And now I'm useless with this," he gestured to his right eye, "There's… (Sniffle)…just no point…"

As Ellis sat down miserably, Jake nudged him and hissed out a jumble of words.

"Don't…cry…not…useless…"

Ellis looked down at Jake, mouth slightly agape. But Jake wasn't finished.

"Don't…go…stay…help us…with Survivors…"

Ellis looked up at Ray.

"He can talk?" he asked.

Ray nodded.

"Can you understand him?" Ray asked.

Ellis slightly nodded.

"He wants me…to stay?"

Ray nodded, encouraging him to continue.

"But what does he mean about helping y'all with Survivors?"

"Well, you see, Ellis, since I'm a doctor, I try to help out as many Survivors as I can," Ray explained. "Jake finds injured Survivors, or ones in trouble, and either tells me about it, or brings them to me. But he only brings them to me if they're unconscious, otherwise they'll kill him."

"There are others?" Ellis asked.

"Well, you're the first we've had in a while."

Ellis looked down at Jake again, who had put a clawed hand on his knee, trying his best to comfort the boy. Ellis looked back at Ray as the latter spoke again.

"Ellis, if you stay, we could help you to learn how to avoid most Infected without a team's help. And by looking at how Jake has already bonded with you, I'm sure he'll go anywhere with you," Ray said, his voice soft and kind.

"But won't I be a burden to y'all?" Ellis asked.

Ray put a hand on his shoulder.

"No, Ellis, you won't be," he said.

Jake hissed out more words.

"Won't…be burden…ever."

Ellis couldn't help but give a small smile. He had found a new team, a new family; one that won't think him as a burden or some kid. For the first time in a few days, he was happy.

* * *

><p>Nick, Coach, Rochelle, Zoey, Bill, Louis and Francis had finally arrived back at the bridge. They immediately got out and started searching for any sign of Ellis.<p>

"Well, looks like the kid managed to take care of the Tanks," Francis observed as he saw the three dead Tanks.

"Let's check the safe houses around here," Rochelle suggested. "Maybe Ellis will be in one of them."

Suddenly, Nick's voice interrupted their plan.

"We might not need to," he said grimly.

The others looked at him as he pointed to the ground in front of them.

A small blood trail was leading away from them and into the direction of the nearest safe house.

"This trail wasn't here before," Bill said.

"Then it must be the young'un's," Coach added.

They followed the trail to the safe house, but Ellis wasn't there. The blood trail didn't end, though, so the seven Survivors carried on following it. Eventually, the blood trail led them back to the wedding.

"Guys, wasn't there a Witch here before?" Rochelle asked.

"Yeah, I remember there was, but I don' remember startlin' her," Coach replied.

"Me neither," Nick added.

"Uh, guys? Come look at this," Zoey's voice sounded.

They went over to Zoey, who was staring at the ground in front of her. The team saw tears in her eyes.

"This look familiar to you?" she asked sadly.

In front of her lay the Bride Witch, clearly dead. Next to the Witch was a large blood puddle. But that wasn't what Zoey was referring to.

She picked up a familiar object from the ground and showed it to the rest of the team. Rochelle's hand flew up to her mouth as she gasped, Coach lowered his head sadly, and Nick just stared at it, not quite sure what to feel.

The object was Ellis' trucker cap.

"Ellis…" Rochelle whispered.

Coach held her in his arms as she started sobbing. Nick just stood there, but the team caught a flicker of sadness in his eyes. Zoey started to sob, too, so Bill walked over to her and held her in his arms.

"We mustn't give up hope," Louis said, making everyone's eyes go on him. "I mean, look; there's no body, nor anything else that belongs to Ellis. I think he somehow got away."

"Never thought I'd say this, but since I hate people crying, I'm gonna agree with Louis," Francis said gruffly.

"Thanks, Francis," Louis said, looking at him.

"Don't mention it, _seriously_," Francis responded.

Louis got the message and turned back to the others.

"We could keep looking for him, but it's gonna be kind of a long shot, 'cause the trail ends here, and we have no idea where he could've gone," he said.

"Long shot or not, we've got to keep looking," Nick pointed out.

The Survivors agreed.

"Let's first find a place to rest for the night, let us get over the shock," Bill suggested, mostly gesturing to the sobbing Rochelle and Zoey. "We'll carry on looking for him tomorrow."

The others nodded, even the girls in between their sobs. Slowly, they made their way to the nearest safe house. A thought crossed Nick's mind, and his hands curled into fists.

'You better not be dead, you dumbshit,' he thought.

**Again, guys, this isn't a slash fic, so don't get any ideas lol :)**

**So, what did y'all think? Good? Bad? R&R please :)**

**Ray and Jake belong to me**

**Thanks again to foxgirl224 :)**

**Please check out my voting poll :)**

**Until next time  
>D-ZombieDragon<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! I finally got round to updating this. Unfortunately, my school has been making us work very hard lately, due to our end-of-year exams coming up :P I'm on half-term****now :D until Tuesday :P started on Wednesday. And we mostly have to study, and do projects during the break, so sucks :P**

**But anyway, this is basically a sort-of filler chapter, basically saying what's Ellis' routine, what happens when he meets other Survivors, that sort of thing. Wasn't sure about this chapter, so I hope y'all like it :) Oh, and in case you don't see it, it's now three years since he was left behind. Okay, sorry for the long A/N, but needed to get things straight.**

**Thanx to all those for the lovely reviews, and for all the favs and alerts :D**

_**Left Behind  
><strong>__**Chapter 4**_

_Three years later…_

"Ya hear tha', Jake?" Ellis asked his smaller companion, crouching down next to him. Jake looked at him and nodded.

"Tank," he growled quietly.

Ellis nodded, standing up and pulling the hood of the hoodie he was wearing further over his face. Three years had passed since Jake had rescued him, and all three of them, Ray, Jake and Ellis, had changed since then. Ray was now very protective of his little team. Jake was, too, but was even more so with Ellis. The Hunter was always by the young Southerner's side, ready to protect him, no matter what.

Ellis, on the other hand, was the one who had changed the most. To replace the cap he had lost all those years ago, and to hide his milky white eye, he now had a black Midnight Riders hoodie. He also now carried a black backpack in order to hold supplies, should they find Survivors in need of immediate medical attention. He also was no longer the childish, goofy, 23-year-old mechanic everyone once knew. Well, not around other Survivors, anyway. Sometimes, he would act like his old self around Jake and Ray, but it didn't happen often. Most of the time, he was a stern and serious, but very kind, 26-year-old.

Jake looked up at Ellis, and then in the direction of the all-too-familiar guttural growls of the Tank.

"No way 'round," he growled. Jake was now able to say sentences without having to hiss the words out, but they were sometimes hard to understand, for some of his sentences were like ones a toddler would say.

Ellis sighed.

"'Fraid so, bud," he whispered. "Looks like we gotta take him on, or else we'll never get these supplies back to Ray, and those Survivors need 'em."

Jake slowly nodded. The two had found a group of five Survivors a few days before, and three of them needed serious medical help. A day after they arrived, Ray realized that he didn't have enough supplies to take care of them. Ellis and Jake had immediately set out for the nearby hospital to scavenge for supplies. They didn't have many problems on the way to the hospital, but now, on the way back, they were encountering numerous Infected, both Special and Common alike. But, thanks to Ellis' new skills in avoiding the Infected, and Jake's Hunter skills, they were able to either fight or bypass the Infected without many problems. But now, exhausted and sore from their trip, they weren't sure how they were going handle the big bulk of Infected.

Ellis sighed.

"Okay, Jake, go get his attention. Once ya have it, I'll throw my Mollie," he said, pointing to the Molotov he had on his belt. "Then we'll just hammer him 'till he dies."

Jake nodded and slowly crawled around the corner.

Shortly after Jake disappeared, Ellis heard a loud, animalistic roar. Seconds later, Jake came dashing back, the Tank right on his tail. Ellis unlatched the Molotov.

"Molotov coming!" he yelled, throwing the Molotov as soon as Jake was out of the way. The flames engulfed the large mass of Infected known as the Tank.

The Tank roared in anger and pain, his beady black eyes now resting on the Southerner, who had now taken out his M-16 and started firing magazine after magazine of bullets.

The Tank roared again and threw out his fists towards Ellis. The young Survivor saw this coming, and dodged the threat easily. The Tank swung again, but Ellis dodged once more. But what Ellis didn't realize was that every time he ducked, he was getting closer and closer to the wall behind him. The Tank soon had him cornered. The giant Infected roared and lifted up his arms.

But before the Tank could bring down his bone-crushing arms on Ellis, Jake screeched and lunged onto the Tank's back. The Tank roared and tried to hit him off, but those giant arms of his just couldn't reach the Hunter.

The Tank's next roar was stopped abruptly, as the flames and Jake's claws were finally taking their toll on the large monstrosity. He fell to his knees with a strange squeal, and died.

As soon as the Tank was dead, Jake jumped off the large corpse, ran over to Ellis and took a huge leap, knocking the Southerner over as he did so. Jake whined as he sniffed and searched the young Survivor for any type of injury. Ellis couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm fine, Jake!" he laughed. "Honest, man!"

Jake stopped searching and cocked his head at Ellis.

"Not hurt?" he growled.

Ellis shook his head.

"I promise ya, bud," he said, still laughing a bit. "Jus' a few cuts and bruises is all."

Jake looked at him searchingly for a moment before jumping off and helping him to stand up. Ellis brushed himself off and picked up his dropped supplies. The backpack that held all the other supplies was still on his back. He took it off his back and opened it. He sighed in relief when he saw that the bag's contents were still intact.

"That's a relief," he sighed. "Las' thin' I wan' is to make a second trip to the hospital."

Jake nodded in agreement. That was a trip they both most definitely didn't want to repeat anytime soon. Ellis looked at him and smiled.

"C'mon bud, we're almost home free," he said, slinging the backpack on his back and leading the way down the street, Jake right by his side.

* * *

><p>Ray heard the pair before he saw them. He could hear the sounds of gunshots, running feet and of course, Jake's tearing claws. He opened the door to the safe house to quickly help them inside. As soon as they were inside, he bolted the door again. He then turned around to face them.<p>

"Shit," he murmured when he saw them in the light. "Had a pretty rough trip, huh?"

"You could say tha'," Ellis shrugged.

"You got the supplies?" Ray asked.

Ellis shrugged off the backpack from his back and handed it over to the doctor. Ray immediately opened the bag. He looked inside, then back up at Ellis.

"This is way more then we needed, Ellis," he said.

"Hey, tha' trip is somethin' tha' I don' wanna repeat anytime soon," Ellis replied, holding up his hands.

Jake nodded in agreement.

Ray winced.

"Trip was that bad?" he asked.

Ellis shrugged again.

"Well, we were fine to begin with, 'till we encountered tha' Tank a couple miles back. Tha' was the tough part. Wish we'd encountered him first."

Ray patted his shoulder.

"Don't worry, you two made it here in one piece and that's all that matters," Ray stated. "I'll just take these to the Survivors and get them fixed up so they can get back on the road."

The doctor turned to leave, but stopped abruptly and turned to Ellis.

"Your eye okay, son?" he whispered.

"Yeah, Ray," Ellis answered.

"No other serious injuries?"

"Naw, jus' a few cuts and bruises is all."

Ray nodded before heading into the next room. Shortly afterwards, one of the two Survivors who weren't injured came out. She was a pretty young woman, with long dark brown hair and beautiful brown eyes. Even though it had only been a few days, she had long since stopped trying to flirt with Ellis. It was obvious that he wasn't interested. Also, every time he looked at her, a haunted look would flash across his eyes. Now that he was back from his trip, she was determined to find out why.

"Hey, Ellis," she greeted.

Ellis looked up at her as he sat down on a nearby couch.

"Hey, Zelda," he greeted back. "How's Zach?"

Zach was Zelda's older brother, and the other Survivor who wasn't badly injured. Zelda smiled.

"He's fine," she answered. "Better than Evan, Tristan and Chloe anyway."

Ellis gave a small chuckle.

"Well, soon those three will be up and about, then y'all can be on yer way again," he stated.

Zelda nodded.

"How did y'all end up together anyway?" Ellis asked.

Zelda frowned thoughtfully.

"Well, obviously Zach and I were together 'cause we're siblings," she answered. "We then ran into the other three, who ironically, are also siblings. Well, except for Chloe. According to Evan and Tristan, the two brothers found her in an abandoned house a couple of years ago. She looked no older than sixteen years old, and she was just curled up and crying beside a small pile of bodies, which Evan and Tristan assumed was her family. They took her in, and ran into us a few days after that."

"Wait, Evan and Tristan are brothers?" Ellis asked.

"Yeah, and Evan's the eldest," Zelda replied. "They adopted Chloe as their younger sister. That makes Zach the eldest of all of us, being twenty-four, then me; I'm twenty-two. Then comes Evan; he's twenty-one, and Tristan's twenty. Chloe's eighteen."

Ellis' eyes widened a bit.

"I didn't know tha' kids could survive," he said. "She must've been 'bout fifteen when this whole apocalypse started."

Zelda nodded.

"She was, but anyway, what about you, Ray and Jake?" she asked.

Ellis' face fell and he looked down at the floor, which had suddenly become much more interesting. He has never told anyone his story, (only Ray and Jake knew) but then again, he's never communicated this much with other Survivors. He always kept himself distanced from other Survivors, (other than Ray and Jake, of course) since he didn't want to get too attached. But there was something about this girl that made him relive those bad memories, but also made him want to talk to her. He knew exactly what that something was.

"Ellis?" Zelda's worried voice interrupted his thoughts. Ellis shook his head and looked up.

"I'm fine, jus' thinkin'," he said.

Zelda didn't believe him. She opened her mouth to speak, but Ellis beat her to it.

"Ya really wanna know how I came across these two?" he asked.

Zelda slowly nodded, curiosity getting the best of her.

Ellis sighed and patted the seat next to him.

"Come sit here," he said. "This might take a while."

Zelda sat down and listened as Ellis began.

* * *

><p>When Ellis was finished with his tale, Zelda sat there, shocked and not sure what to say. She looked at Ellis carefully, and even though he was wearing his hoodie, she saw a lone tear slide down his cheek. She frowned.<p>

"Ellis, why do you wear that hoodie all the time?" she asked. "I never see you not wear it."

Ellis turned to look at her, and then slowly started to take off the hood of his hoodie. When it was off, Zelda's hand immediately flew up to her mouth.

"Oh, my…" she gasped, staring at Ellis' milky white eye. "What happened?"

Ellis sighed, closing his eyes. Zelda now saw the scarring on the injured eye.

"Claw marks?" she asked.

Ellis nodded.

"Witch," he said, opening his eyes. He looked down at Jake, who was sitting at his feet. "If it wasn't for Jake and Ray, I wouldn't be here."

Zelda saw tears fall from his left eye. Ellis looked at her.

"And the reason why ya probably see me look at ya funny, is 'cause ya remind me a lot of…" he trailed off mid-sentence.

Zelda looked at him sympathetically.

"Zoey?" she asked.

Ellis nodded again, pulling his hood back over his face. He hated showing his eye around other Survivors, because he knew that they would ask questions, and he would have to relive his past all over again. But he hadn't talked about it in so long, and he felt the need to talk about it with someone else, other than Ray and Jake. And this girl seemed to understand him, reason why he told her, and no-one else. He felt Zelda put her hand on his shoulder and give it a reassuring squeeze. They heard Ray enter the room.

"Well, good news, Zelda," he said. "Thanks to Ellis and Jake, you and your team should be back on the road in no time."

Zelda looked up at him and smiled gratefully.

"Thanks a lot, Ray," she said. "If it wasn't for you three, I don't even want to think what the outcome would've been."

"We're always pleased to help other Survivors," Ray responded. "Your three friends need a few more days before you can leave, but in the meantime, you and your brother can prepare to leave."

"That's a good idea," Zelda replied. "We'll go do so right now."

Ray nodded and left the room. Zelda turned to Ellis.

"You'll be okay, Ellis?" she asked in concern.

Ellis nodded.

"Yeah," he replied. "You go help Zach."

Zelda nodded and left the room. Ray entered again a moment later.

"Glad to see you finally told someone else what happened, Ellis," he said, smiling. "It's not healthy to keep all your feelings to yourself."

Ellis smiled at him, before looking down at the now sleeping Jake. The Hunter must've fallen asleep while Ellis and Zelda were talking. Ellis chuckled and bent down to softly pat Jake's head. Surprisingly, he didn't stir.

"You probably better get some sleep too, son," Ray suggested. "You two had had a rough trip, and you deserve some rest."

Ellis nodded, but felt too tired to leave the couch. Ray seemed to understand, because he left the room and came back a moment later with two blankets; one large and one small. He gave the larger blanket to Ellis, and placed the smaller one on top of Jake. Ray and Ellis said their goodnights, and soon, Ellis fell asleep on the couch.

**So, yea, that's chapter four! Hope y'all enjoyed!**

**Now, basically to explain, Ellis has never trusted anyone else other than Ray and Jake, until Zelda comes along. Now just so y'all know, this is not an EllisXOC (Zelda) pairing. They were just Survivors I added for this chapter, maybe I'll put them in another one, I don't know.**

**The five Survivors, Zelda, Zach, Evan, Tristan and Chloe all belong to me. Jake and Ray, too.**

**I will try and update regularly, but like I said, exams and school, so it will be difficult :P but I never abandon a story, so don't worry!**

**Please R&R!**

**Until next time  
>D-ZombieDragon<br>**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey y'all. I know it''s been a while, but I've been very busy with exams. But I've finished them now, and I did quite well in my report :) but I'm going away for the holidays soon, so I'll see if I can get another chapter up before then.**

**Also. I've decided that from now on, I'm gonna answer my reviews in my chapters. It makes it easier, and also it helps me answer questions, especially for those who don't have accounts. I'll start replying to them from next chapter.**

**Thanks to all those who reviewed, alerted and/or faved! Now, I was really unsure about this chapter, but please tell me what y'all thought.**

**Now on with the chapter!  
><strong>

_**Left Behind  
><strong>__**Chapter 5**_

Zach, Zelda, Evan, Tristan and Chloe all left about a week later. But before they did, Zelda quickly took Ellis aside.

"Listen, Ellis, you're going to be okay," she said, giving him a friendly hug. "You have a great team right now, better than the one that left you. Just think about them and not your old team, okay?"

Ellis nodded. Zelda smiled and went out the door after her team, waving to Ellis and his team as she left.

"Thanks for everything, you three!" Zach exclaimed.

"Hope you keep safe!" Zelda added.

"Thanks!" Evan, Tristan and Chloe said at the same time.

Ellis, Ray and Jake watched the group until they disappeared. Ellis looked down at Jake and smiled.

"Ya up for a routine check tomorrow, bud?" he asked, chuckling.

Jake nodded eagerly. Ray smiled as he looked at the pair.

"Well, if you two are going to look for more Survivors who need help tomorrow, then you'd better get some rest," he said.

Ellis nodded and went back into the safe house, Jake close behind. Ray smiled again as he followed, closing the door behind him.

* * *

><p>Later that night, Ellis awoke to the sound of urgent whining. He felt Jake shaking him urgently, obviously trying to wake him up. Groaning, Ellis sat up and faced his companion.<p>

"Wha' the hell, Jake?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

Suddenly, Ellis heard the sound of gunshots coming from outside. Realizing why Jake had woken him, he jumped off the couch and grabbed his trusty M-16. Running to the door, he threw the bar off and ran outside, Jake right behind him.

"Jake, scout ahead!" Ellis yelled to him.

Jake nodded and pounced up into a nearby tree. He pounced from tree to tree, the gunshots getting louder and louder in his ears. Eventually, he stopped, for he had finally reached the source of the noise. Looking down from his perch, he saw something that made shivers go down his spine.

He saw what looked like about seven Survivors, all running and shooting at something out of sight. That something soon made an appearance, and was soon followed by two others. Jake shuddered; he knew those shadows.

Panicked, he ran back to Ellis, who was already running towards him. Ellis stopped in his tracks at the sight of the Hunter.

"Wha' is it, Jake?" he asked.

"Found Survivors," Jake panted. "But found three Tanks, too!"

Ellis' eyes widened.

"Are the Tanks chasin' them?" he asked.

Jake nodded.

Ellis looked in the direction of all the chaos. He made a decision.

"Well, Jake, we made a promise and tha' is to help any Survivors in need of it," he said.

Jake nodded in agreement. The pair knew it was a risk, but they had made a promise, and they intend to keep it. A loud roar brought the two out of their thoughts.

"C'mon, we'd better go!" Ellis exclaimed, running in the direction of the noise, Jake right behind him.

* * *

><p>Ellis looked at the unfolding chaos with widened, fearful eyes. He had stopped at the sight of the three Tanks, horrible memories resurfacing in his mind. Jake seemed to realize that, for he nudged Ellis' leg hard, which was enough to bring the young Southerner back to reality. He shook his head and looked at the scene again, but this time, with determination.<p>

"Ok, Jake, firs' thin' we gotta do is get the three Tanks' attention," he told his friend. "Then I'll throw the Molly. I jus' hope it'll get them all…"

Jake looked up at his friend, a look of encouragement in his eyes. Ellis noticed and smiled.

"Let's go, Jake!" he yelled.

He ran towards the three Tanks, shouting a battle cry, which was barely audible over the loud noises of guns and roars. Bringing his M-16 to his chest, he released a whole magazine of bullets into one of the large masses of Infected. He then did the same with the other two.

"Come and get me, ya motherfuckers!" he yelled.

The Tanks turned their heads at the yelling and started to barrel towards him. Ellis took out the Molotov and threw it, miraculously managing to set two on fire.

"Now, Jake!" he yelled up to the nearby trees.

An answering screech filled the air, and the Hunter pounced out of one of the trees. He landed on the Tank that wasn't on fire and started to claw at its back. The Tank roared in anger, and tried to hit the Hunter off, but to no avail. The other two Tanks still barreled for Ellis, while the latter continued to shoot them. He heard gunshots coming from behind the Tanks, and knew that the other Survivors were helping. The burning Tanks eventually keeled over and Ellis looked towards the final Tank.

"Jake, get back down!" he yelled, worried for the Hunter's safety.

Jake didn't hear him and continued to claw the Tank. The Tank eventually got tired of the annoying Hunter that was causing its pain. With a lot of strength, it barreled towards a nearby tree and slammed its back into the thick trunk. Jake slid off the Tank's back and fell to the ground, not moving.

"Jake!" Ellis yelled.

The Tank roared in triumph and turned its attention back to Ellis. The young man just stood there in shock, staring at Jake's unmoving form. The Tank took advantage of the situation and managed to hit Ellis with one of its large fists. Ellis went flying and fell to the ground. But he got up soon after, the hit bringing him back to reality. His eyes glowed with a deep hatred.

"I'll get ya for hurtin' him, ya sonuvabitch!" he bellowed, strapping his gun to his back and pulling out his katana.

He ran towards the Tank, adrenaline pumping through his veins. Avoiding the Tank's fists, he rounded the giant Infected and plunged the katana deep into its back. The Tank roared in pain and tried once again to hit the young Survivor. This time, the Tank managed to hit him again, sending him flying into the other Survivors. The Tank roared, for the katana was still deep in its back, and the pain was driving it crazy. It barreled towards the group. The group, though, managed to recover and got up, shooting the Tank. The Tank was just about to hit them all down again, when it suddenly keeled over, the pain from both the bullets and embedded katana too much for it.

As soon as the Tank was dead, Ellis ran towards where Jake lay. He kneeled down next to the Hunter, and checked him for a pulse. When the Southerner found a steady one, he sighed in relief. He was about to check his friend over for any serious injuries, but froze when he heard the sound of a gun being cocked. He slowly turned around and saw one of the other Survivors pointing an auto shotgun at the Hunter next to him. Angry, Ellis stood up and stepped in front of his unconscious friend.

"Get out of the way, kid," the Survivor holding the gun huffed.

Ellis looked up at the voice, still angry, but knowing he had heard it before.

"No, ya ain't shootin' my friend," he practically growled, standing his ground.

"Friend?" the same Survivor snorted. "In case ya didn't notice, kid, that's a Hunter you're talking about!"

"He ain't like other Hunters!" Ellis argued. "And anyway, the two of us just saved yer asses! And now ya wanna shoot one of us?"

The man holding the gun grunted in annoyance, but before the argument could carry on, someone interrupted them.

"Guys, where are you?" a voice yelled.

Ellis looked in the direction of the voice, recognizing it immediately.

"We're over here, Ray!" he yelled back.

A few minutes later, the doctor appeared through the bushes.

"Man, next time you two are gonna run off like that, at least tell me!" he exclaimed. "I was worried sick about you two!"

"Sorry, Ray, but we heard shootin' and roarin', and thought that some Survivors were nearby," Ellis replied, feeling a bit guilty. "There were three Tanks chasin' these Survivors," he pointed to the seven Survivors behind him, "and we tried to help. But one of the Tanks hurt Jake, and these Survivors jus' wanna shoot him."

Ray looked at the Survivors, and glared at the one holding the gun.

"If I were you, I'd put the gun down," he threatened.

The man holding the gun grunted, but kept his gun up. One of the other Survivors came forward and put a hand on the man's shoulder. She whispered something in his ear. He grunted again, but this time he lowered his gun. The woman faced Ray.

"Sorry about that," she said.

"It's okay," Ray replied. "It's just that these two mean a lot to me."

"I can understand that," the woman replied.

"So, what are your names?" Ray asked.

"I'm Rochelle," the woman replied. She pointed at the man with the gun. "This is Francis." She then pointed to the rest, saying their names. "And this is Nick, Coach, Louis, Bill and Zoey."

Ellis looked up and stared.

'No way,' he thought. 'Wha' the hell are they still doin' here?'

Ray looked at Ellis, knowing that the younger man had mentioned these names before. Ellis nodded, confirming the doctor's thoughts. He looked back towards the group.

"What brings you all to Rayford?" he asked. "There's no evac here."

The Survivor known as Coach answered.

"Well, to be honest, we've been lookin' for someone," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "We have this feelin' tha' he's alive, but we jus' can't find him."

"And how long have you been looking for this person?" Ray asked, wanting to learn more about these people.

"Three years, I think," the Survivor known as Nick answered. "I know you probably think it's stupid, but we need to find him, no matter how long it takes."

"Why?" the doctor asked.

This time, Louis answered.

"We left him behind by mistake," he said shamefully.

"And all we found of him when we came back was this," Zoey added, pulling out a blue and white trucker's hat. Ellis' eyes widened.

'My hat…' he thought. But he shook his head forcefully. 'No, I can't get close to them again. They could be lyin' for all I know.'

Luckily for Ellis, his voice had gotten deeper over the last three years. Even Ray said that his voice wasn't the same as three years ago, so the optimistic mechanic was confident that his former teammates wouldn't recognize him. And just to be sure, he pulled his hood further over his face. His voice might've changed, but his face hasn't changed much (aside from his eye).

While the others talked, Ellis turned his attention back to Jake. He continued what he left off and checked him for any injuries. The only serious injury was a quite a large cut on the Hunter's forehead. Ellis took off his First Aid Kit and dabbed the wound with gauze. Afterwards, he carefully bandaged his friend's head and slowly picked him up.

"Hey, Ray, we need to be gettin' Jake back to the safe room," he said. "He's gotta pretty nasty cut on his head."

Ray looked at Ellis carrying the unconscious Jake, and saw the bandage around the Hunter's head. He nodded to Ellis.

"Good job, boy, for spotting that," he commented. "I'll give that a check once we get back."

Ray then turned back to the other Survivors.

"If you all promise not to do anything that will cause harm to me or to my team, you can come with us," he said. His eyes looked at the wounds on their bodies. "And it looks like you're gonna need our help."

The Survivors considered it for a moment. Eventually, Bill stepped forward.

"Fine, we promise, but that Hunter better not do anything to us," he said.

"It's okay, Jake only attacks if he feels the need to protect us," Ray responded. "Now, let's go."

As the group followed Ray and Ellis, Zoey walked up to Ray.

"Ray was it?" she asked.

Ray nodded.

"He's not much of a talker, is he?" she asked, pointing at Ellis. "He doesn't even tell us his name."

Ray sighed.

"Look, you've gotta understand," Ray responded. "The boy doesn't trust other Survivors as much as he used to. He's had quite bad experiences with his last group. I mean, it took him a while to trust us, too."

"Then why don't you tell us what his name is?" Zoey asked, suspicions rising.

"That's because it's not my place to say," Ray replied. "He believes that names mean you can get attached, and he doesn't want to go through what he did before. He's asked me before to not tell other Survivors who he is. He tells them himself when he's ready."

Ellis overheard the conversation, and was happy that Ray respected his decisions and thoughts. He suddenly felt a lot of movement in his arms. He looked down to see that Jake had woken up and was trying to look behind Ellis while in the young man's arms. The young Southerner noticed that the Hunter was growling.

"Jake?" he asked.

Jake looked up at him.

"Those Survivors…" he said slowly. "Those the ones that left Ellis?"

Ellis realized that the Hunter must've sensed his demeanor and found out that these Survivors were the ones that left the young man. Ellis sadly nodded.

"Yeah, Jake," he answered.

Jake's growling intensified, and he attempted to get out of Ellis' grip. But Ellis kept a firm hold on his companion.

"No, Jake!" he exclaimed.

"They hurt Ellis!" Jake argued.

"I know," Ellis replied. "But I don' wan' them to know tha' it's me, okay? Please don' do anythin' stupid, Jake."

Jake hesitated, but slowly nodded.

"But if they hurt Ellis again, I'll hurt them," he snarled.

Ellis chuckled.

"Jus' try to restrain yerself," he told Jake.

The Hunter snorted, but reluctantly gave in.

At the safe room, Ellis walked in and put Jake on the couch. As he got a make-shift bed ready for the Hunter, for the mechanic knew that Jake would never agree to sleep on the couch, Ray and the others walked in.

"Okay, now, you guys will have to find room somewhere," Ray told the group. "There are only four rooms, so you all will probably have to share."

After some talk, the rooms would be shared like this: Bill and Coach would share one room, then Rochelle and Zoey would share the second one, and finally, Francis, Louis and Nick would share the third. The fourth was Ray's.

The seven Survivors exchanged good nights with Ray and Ellis and went to their rooms. Ellis lay down on the couch, and Jake got into his make-shift bed beside it. Ray said goodnight to the two and went into his room. Ellis looked down at Jake.

"Night, bud," he said, reaching down to pet Jake's head.

Jake nudged his hand in return, too tired to talk. Ellis got himself comfortable on the couch and tried to sleep.

But all he got from sleeping were the memories and nightmares…

**And there we go! Hope y'all enjoyed it!**

**Now, I'm sorry for making the other Survivors sound dumb, but I need them to not recognise Ellis until a future chapter. Also, sorry for any confusion about Jake if there's any. He's not stupid, he just has a limited vocabulary, and says almost toddler-like sentences. Thanks for reading!  
><strong>

**R&R please!**

**Until next time  
><strong>**D-ZombieDragon**


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